Claudio Ranieri insists Kasper Schmeichel will not leave Leicester in January

Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri has insisted Kasper Schmeichel will not be sold next month.

The goalkeeper has been linked with a move to Liverpool in January but Ranieri emphatically denied he would leave the King Power Stadium. 

Schmeichel, 30, signed a new five-year deal in the summer after helping the Foxes to a surprise Premier League title win last season. 

Liverpool goalkeepers Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius are under fire, with the Reds keeping just five clean sheets in 18 league games, despite Jurgen Klopp's team sitting second in the table after Tuesday's 4-1 victory over Stoke. 

Schmeichel is the Foxes undisputed number one and Ranieri dismissed any suggestions the champions would let him leave for any price. 

He said: "Kasper has a signature on the contract. We won't sell Kasper under any circumstances. We don't need money. No chance.

"I'm sorry for Liverpool, they can win the title without Kasper." 

Schmeichel kept 15 clean sheets last season as Leicester won the league by 10 points and has maintained his form this year, keeping six shutouts in 17 appearances.

He returned from a fractured hand this month but the Foxes' have won only once in their last nine Premier League games and sit just three points above the relegation zone.

They host West Ham on Saturday after Boxing Day's 2-0 loss to Everton and go to fellow strugglers Middlesbrough on Monday.

Meanwhile, Ranieri came close to confirming Leicester's signing of Genk midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, even if he refused to fully admit the Nigeria international would join.

He said: "I don't know. Let me see him and say 'welcome, good morning', then I'll tell you. It's not my matter. Wait and the next day you will enjoy."